Healing Eyes
by SachiruNatsu
Summary: Sasuke is dead and Sakura and her team are heading back to Konoha. What is in Naruto's letter that is so important? And what is a Kyoujaku? Sequel to Emotionless Eyes.
1. Prolouge

**Hello Everyone! Here is the sequel to Emo Eyes. I hope, but before I begin I would like to say a few things.**

**During the summer, I always get a bit of writer's block, so I will not be updating as fast. Also, I have been neglecting Inner Itachi, so I need to at least post the next chappie of that. **

**One more thing is, I have gotten mixed reviews on the end of Emo Eyes. Some people have said that a good writer never plans the end of there book or story until the end. I believe a girl titled as Kit told me that, but on the contrary, most good writer's do plan out the ending of their book/s or story. Holly Black for example, she had already planned Valiant and Ironside by the time she was at most half way through Tithe. Libba Bray had already planned a trilogy when she had hardly begun A Great and Terrible Beauty.**

**I myself am not opposed to flames at all. I give them all the time, but only when they are absolutely needed to help the writer obtain a better status. When it is something like, 'I bet the sequel will suck' especially when that particular person has never even posted a story of there own. In my opinion, flames should only be given if you have written your own story. Oh, and one more warning, you can flame me all you want, but I will always have a comeback and if you do not sign on, I will simply embarrass you come the next chapter like I just did to those who flamed me for my story. **

**Now, I'm sorry for the wait. Enjoy!.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fishcakes. O.o**

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**Haruno Sakura**

I steadily walked over to one of the many trees that encircled the sound base and leaned upon it.

It was finally over. The mission that had been a total waste of time, was over. Itachi would have killed Sasuke sooner or later, why did we have to kill him now? It made no sense, but an order was an order.

I shut my eyes for a moment. Kakashi and Sai would return soon. I know they had not died. My senses had told me they were injured, badly, but not dead. It was nothing I could not handle.

I peeked out from under my eyelids when I felt Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigake Kisame approach. There eyes fluttered back and forth between the squirrel, Sasuke, and me. Well, Itachi at least. Kisame could not even look me in the eye for the fear of being recaptured by my Genjutsu.

"What did you do to him?" Itachi queried, unconcerned.

"I killed him," was my blunt reply. He seemed…pleased at my sarcastic reply and did me the honors of allowing me to see his rare smirk.

"I realized that," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "But what methods did you use?"

I answered robotically almost. Interrogations of how I killed an opponent were always common. "The Genjutsu you saw me use on Hoshigake-san and the jutsu used on Deidara-san."

At the sound of my Genjutsu, Kisame flinched very noticeably. Even Itachi was alerted by his sudden movement and glanced in his direction, but his only reply was the common, 'hn.'

All three of our heads snapped up at the exact same time when we felt my team members step into our close range. Itachi and I then turned back to each other and spoke silently with our eyes. Then we both nodded simultaneously and he twirled around until he was facing the opposite direction and trotted away with Kisame on his tail.

My eyes trailed the Akatsuki members until they were out of sight. Then I focused my attention towards my teammates. Sai had been fatally wounded and Kakashi was no better. There chakra levels had dissipated to the point where there was no need to conceal it. Only a well-trained shinobi would be able to sense such low amounts of chakra and only shinobi with perfect chakra control would know that these people were injured.

I leaned back against the tree I had previously rested upon. The boys weren't to far from reaching the exit, so I would not have enough time to _completely _restore my reserves. Now noticing just how injured they were, I realized I would not be needed as much chakra as I had originally planned.

If he moved to much or I simply hit one of his chakra points, Sai would die.

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**Ok, short I know, but it is a prologue. The next chapter will be much much much longer. I promise and cross my heart hope to die.**

**In other news tomorrow I am getting my eyebrow pierced? Everyone excited? I bet. Anyhow thanks for reading and please review! I would like at least 7 reviews for my first chappie and that is including all flames. NOW! Something new. I will be replying to all those people who signed in anonymously from Emotionless Eyes.**

**Kit: I have already stated above that most good writer's do plan ahead. If they do not, they may stray from their original plot. Most famous author's do the same. I would also appreciate if you no longer left flames especially since you are not logged on. Right now I am assuming that you are angry at me for ending it so abruptly, but you yourself have never written a single fanfic. Once you write a fic, then you have rights to flame me. If you continue I will have no choice than to block all anonymous reviews.**

**Blue: Thank you so much for the review and here is the sequel for ya! I hope you enjoy.**

**Jahannah12: It would make sense to make this Ita X Saku, but once again, I think it should be Kaka X Saku. That way it will be easier for me to show what is going to happen later on. **

**Carolyna: Yes, I know it did end rather abruptly, but it was meant to be left on a sort of cliffhanger. The first one is called Emotionless Eyes and this is Healing Eyes…Hm, I wonder why it is called that?**

**The girl that is to lazy to sign in: You caught that did you? I wanted it them to be somewhat related, just not completely ironic. Thank you for reading and I will do my best to make this fic enjoyable.**

**With all do respect,**

**SachiruNatsu **

**Fun fact: Do not eat eggs and yogurt together…bad after taste.**


	2. The Warm Ice that Graces my Cheeks

**And I'm back with another chapter of Healing Eyes! I hope everyone enjoys and I also wanted to say that I was very very pleased at how many reviews I got. Twelve on my first chapter? That's almost unheard of for me, but now I must warn you. Since this is my second chapter and all I will be expecting TEN reviews before I update again. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own fishcakes, nor do I own Shika's letter/poster thing. **

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**The Warm Ice that Graces my Cheeks**

**Haruno Sakura**

A kunai whizzed past my face. It had been thrown by Sai. My own team member had attacked me and I knew exactly why. "You bitch!" He screamed, losing control of all his emotions. "What the hell were you thinking?"

I had already activated my mind reading jutsu to tell me what the cause was of his slurred anger. It wasn't hard to find. That particular thought seemed to be controlling his rash actions. "I believe I was thinking we should complete this tedious mission, Sai-san."

"Don't give me that 'san' bullshit! You knew that I knew that boy," Sai snapped.

I felt the urge to smirk at his remark. I preferred to keep the killing at a minimum during a mission, especially when that includes my allies. Of course, I had never had any regret for the lives I took, I just despised the reports I would have to give to explain my reasoning behind the murder. I had already earned two enemy reports. I would have to write at least a page for each member of Akatsuki that I sided with for this mission and give my motivation for not killing them on the spot.

"Does it matter if I did?"

"That boy, he was my brother! My dead brother from all those years ago! How could you send to kill the one person who I wished would still be alive?"

"You already know the answer Sai-san. Your mind is cluttered with fury and revenge. The answer will come to you if you-" Another kunai sliced the air beside my cheek.

"You still sent me and you knew! You whore! You are a heartless bitch!"

"Of course I did Sai-san," I stated calmly, refusing to cease my formalities towards him. "This is an important mission."

"You still could have allowed me to fight Sasuke instead. There was an alternate option!"

Sai's arguing was beginning to become pointless and threatening towards the _other_ on my team. The time had come to end this ridiculous dispute. I had already started to dig through the filing cabinets of my mind before Sai ended his last sentence. I finally came across something that could be of assistance. One of the oldest tricks in the book.

"Sai-san, Sasuke-san was much more powerful than the person you defeated. I would have been sentencing you to death."

"And sending me to kill my brother isn't?"

As Sai continued to rant on about how horrible and heartless I was, I made the proper signs for a mind-numbing jutsu from behind my back. If Sai would have been in his normal mindset, he would have known and countered what I was doing. The behind-the-back-jutsu was one of the first things we were taught in the academy.

"And you always kill-"

I chose my next words quickly and carefully before I spoke. If I didn't, Sai would soon become out of control. "You have become a threat to this mission Sai-san, I must do this."

An almost invisible force flew from my body and leaped into his. He fell immediately to the bloodied ground next to Sasuke and the squirrel. I gestured towards Kakashi to attempt to uphold his attention span and quit with the irksome flinching.

"Please carry him and I will lead."

Kakashi nodded with a somewhat solemn look intended for Sai. I am not exactly sure why he gave Sai that look. The numbing jutsu wasn't particularly painful. It was more pleasant if anything, but I could only guess that it had something to do with me.

I turned my back when Kakashi had begun to bend down so I could avoid his disappointed eyes. We had no more time for any arguments. Without speaking another word, I pounced into the tree I had previously been leaning upon.

I ignored the sound of Kakashi's feet prodding behind me and carefully revealed the note from Naruto. I opened it as neatly as I could. Naruto had spent more time folding this piece of paper than actually writing the letter. That was just how he was.

Before I even attempted to read Naruto's chicken scratch, I smoothed it out to make it a bit more legible.

_My Dearest Sakura-chan,_

_I want you to know that I could never live without you. We will soar together, if you die, I think I will too. I want to live my faerytale life as I planned it and never wake up, but I always forget there is no such thing. Awake and unafraid; asleep or dead. This is ours._

_I want to swim through the water and look at the moon and be filled with the music of the dead of night even when we are on our own. I love you, I love you, I love you. I could never live without you and I want this to last. I want to run through the long grass and feel the rain on my face and be able to look around and see you until my heart bursts._

_I want angels to run through our heads and a feral spirit to haunt us and be part of us in this wasteland we call home. I want us to dance under the hill and get drunk on life and cry and laugh and scream and feel our hearts as one. I want to see the beauty in everything like we did when we were children. I want to take pictures of everything and hear and touch and taste until we fall into the grace forever._

_Sakura, I'll be there through it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven._

_-Uzamaki Naruto_

A warm sticky liquid slid down my cheeks and onto my chapped lips. It tasted…salty. I stopped on a branch and brought my fingers to my face.

This salt water, it was coming from…my eyes? What was this trickery?

I had paused long enough for Kakashi to catch up with me. He came to my side and laid Sai on a wide branch. Gently, he placed his arm around me and whispered into my ear. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

I was slightly annoyed by him not using the formalities that I had become so attached to, but for some reason, it didn't bother me too much. It was like nothing else mattered except this moment. I looked up at Kakashi and saw his face contort into one of shock.

"Sakura, you're crying…"

At that moment, it seemed that everything was crashing down on me from the past few years. All the people I had killed, all the people I had hurt, all the people I had turned down because they wanted to help me, they all came back to haunt me. I Haruno Sakura, the emotionless ANBU captain of Konoha, was crying.

A nostalgic voice entered my mind.

_**'It's ok Sakura-chan. I'm back.'**_

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**Tada. There was the moment we have all been waiting for! She's back! Cha!**

**Ok, now a few of ya'll were wondering about my myspace. I have the url up on my profile so check it out and add me. Sneak Peeks etc. will be there!**

**Anonymous Review replies:**

**Don't feel like signing in: I hope this was soon enough for you and I hope you enjoyed!**

**Carolyna: No I didn't think you were criticizing me, but I reread what I said and it sounded a little ride so sorry 'bout that. And thanks for sayin' I have talent. ****J**

**Unnamed: Cha. Update for you. Thanks for the review.**

**Pinkcrayon: Still a bit short I know, but it is longer. Thanks for the review.**

**Your lovely authoress,**

**SachiruNatsu**

**Fun Fact: You swallow at least three microscopic spiders every night. O.o **


	3. The Soul Inside that Died

**Hi peoples. Bored with nothing to do and finding something horrendously funny. This story I'm writing called Inner Itachi, has more reviews than Emo Eyes and it is at least two or three chapter behind. Weird right? Lol. Anyhow, I'm bored and really wasn't planning on updating, but I was so excited after the last chapter. Hopefully ya'll got my note about flames and me quitting after all my stories are done. That's right! You'll finally get rid of this cruel evil author! LOL. Anyways, enjoy(me not owning Naruto).**

**P.S. This will be relatively short because of my lack of inspiration, so very sorry!**

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**The Soul Inside that Died**

**Haruno Sakura**

Sasuke-kun, Neji-kun…Me? I killed them? But how? I loved them! How did I kill them! They were my friends and I betrayed them! Who am I?

I released a blood curdling scream to vent my frustration. All of this was to much to handle. When I had been emotionless, this all seemed to pass so quickly and not weigh me down. Why now?

"Sakura…chan?"

That voice, so soft and caring. Who does it belong to? A warm hand gently slid its way to my shoulder and lay there in a comforting position. Kakashi. That's who it was. The person who had stood by me through everything this past year.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I asked shifting places so I could see him. His eye was glassy; glassy from the few tears he had shed for me. And for what? I didn't deserve his pity or his forgiving love. "Kakashi-sensei, why? Why are you crying?"

Kakashi simply smiled at me through his mask and pulled me into a tight embrace. His arms were glued to my waist as my face lay buried in his broad chest. "I love you, Sakura-chan. That's why."

I forced myself to view my former sensei's face. I had to make sure this wasn't some sort of fraud. When I saw his face (what I could see of it) all pf those thoughts disappeared. His gaze was warm and gentle. It was so beautiful.

I slowly brought my face closer to his in a daze. I wanted to kiss him so bad for being there for me even when I refused his help. I knew he was my sensei, but I had to because I had no other way of telling him thank you.

My lips grazed his through the mask. I felt Kakashi's body tense up against my irrational actions, but I didn't care as I continued to allow the warmth of his lips through the thin fabric consume mine. I wanted this moment to last forever, but knew it would have to come to an end when a slight rustling came from our side.

I slowly removed my flushed cheeks from in front of his own and turned to my left. There lay a now awaking Sai.

"Where the fuck is Sakura?" He questioned angrily from behind closed eyelids. I'm going to murder that bitch." Soon all the memories of how I had treated Sai returned to my hazy mind and I began to break down once again. How could I be so cruel as to hurt a friend like that?

Before Sai's eyes could open, he was in my arms. "Sai-kun, I'm sorry!" I sobbed into his shoulder. "I-I never meant to be so cold." I could tell Sai was stunned. Even more so than Kakashi. He was used to my heartless side and he was asleep (more like knocked out) when I…came back to my senses.

"Sakura-san, wha-"

"Chan. Sakura-chan. Please."

Sai's arms cautiously snacked around my shoulders as he closed the space between us. A chill ran down my spine when he whispered something into my ear, and trust me, it wasn't his horrible breath that did it. It was what he said. "I forgive you…Sakura-_chan."_

I held my grip on Sai for just a few moments longer until I let go and stood up shakily. I wiped the streaming tears from my eyes even though it did not cease the downpour of the salty liquid.

"Let's go home you guys," I announced with a certain authority I didn't know I had obtained. My new strength and plentiful chakra reserves were all new to me.

My teammates smirked and jumped from the branch simultaneously.

…………………………………………………………………………..

My speed was new too. I had no idea I had become so powerful, but I was not proud of how I did so. I had hurt so many to become this and I knew in the back of mind, that I would have to give up this feeling on my next mission. Somehow I would find a way to make my emotionless state only temporary.

I voluntarily stopped my own thoughts as I caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. The Konoha gates. I was finally home.

"Sakura-chan," I turned towards the voice who had said my name. "You need to know that people don't view you the same anymore. You're friends, aren't there anymore. Only us and Naruto. Tsunade too," Kakashi had attempted to say it kindly, but who can break the news that everyone hates you nicely? In my opinion he did a good job, but it still received a frown.

"I understand," I said to myself. "But I guess I'll just have to regain that friendship now won't I?" I stated smiling. I had to act optimistic even if I didn't feel like it. Maybe things would change. There was always that chance.

Kakashi, Sai, and I made our way to the Konoha gates and stopped in front of the guards to allow them to approve our ID's and mission registrations. I smiled at Izumo when he did so and earned a jaw-dropping look of astonishment in return. I guess people really did change.

Once inside, my team and I went our separate ways. Sai to take a shower, Kakashi to report to Tsunade, and I to talk to Naruto. I had to thank him and tell him sorry and and and stop getting so damn excited.

I followed the familiar path to his house and stopped once in front of his apartment. Before walking to his door, I decided to make sure I had the right house. You know, just in case he moved. The first thing that captured my attention was the overwhelmed trash can on the side of the street. It was spitting out instant ramen cups. Yep, this was definitely Naruto's house.

I made my way to his door and rang the bell. The first time nothing happened, so I rang it once more. Still, nothing. I figured he wasn't there so I turned to go and make sure he wasn't partying at Ichiraku's or washing dishes to pay for his debt in Ramen, but before I could step from his cluttered porch (thing) his door creaked open.

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**Happy whatever day everyone. **

**Ok, now for a few important updates.**

**This is my last chapter until late July. I'm tired of writing and typing and blah blah blah. Gotta get my inspiration back. I will be reading lots of reviews (encouragement needed here) and I am now offering my services for beta reading. I want to read some good fics and everyone knows I'm a critic, so if ya want me, tell me. I will tell you now that I've never done it before, but I'm up for new things.**

**I WANT FAN ART SO BAD! I don't care if it is on Inner Itachi, Invisible, Emo Eyes, anything! I just really want some pics. : . I will love you and give you credit and everything on me myspace and me profile and me personal myspace and everything!! If you want my story site it is on my profile. Check it out and add me please. **

**Um, that about wraps it up and please no flames because you will get no reply. I'm not in the mood to retort, but if you do flame me I am in the mood for canceling and deleting stories, so don't do it unless it is trying to give me some grammar help.**

**Love you all and your wonderful ass patience,**

**SachiruNatsu**

**Fun Fact: Every three steps you take, there's a spider there. (nother spider fact:.)**


	4. Before You Take the Chance

**Holy shit! She updates!!! That's right people! I just watched a video on youtube by some chick and it gave me my inspiration back. Not to mention I write better when I'm in school. That is the one plus side to having this stupid summer school thing. Otherwise, it is worthless. It's completely mandatory for ALL rising ninth graders at my school. They should go die.**

**Disclaimer: I do no own Sasuke. Oh wait! Is it Naruto? Could have fooled me with the whole time skip being about the bastard.**

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**Before You Take the Chance**

**Haruno Sakura**

"What the hell do you want?" A groggy Naruto grumbled from the door way. He was gently massaging his eyes, bidding them to open, so he could see who the insane person that just woke him up was.

I didn't let him see me before I was in his arms. I held him tightly. Tighter than I had with Kakashi and I sobbed quietly. It wasn't long before I began to blush…Naruto was clad in his boxer shorts and socks. Nothing more and nothing less, but I didn't let go. I felt I would lose him if I did.

After five minutes of standing outside with some girl with pink hair (which couldn't possibly be the infamous Haruno Sakura) latched onto him, I believe Naruto got a bit uncomfortable. He gently grasped my arms and wrenched his way apart from me.

His eyes first displayed disbelief, then a comforting happiness. "My Sakura-chan is back," he said soothingly as he pulled me back into his toned chest.

I smiled into his muscular body and spoke softly. "That's right Naruto-kun, and it is all due to your constant nagging."

Naruto suddenly pulled away and stared at me with a certain sternness. "Sakura-chan, would you come inside?"

I looked at him suspiciously, but decided that arguing would ruin the moment. "Of course."

I was led into his messy house and told to sit down on a worn-out sofa. Naruto plopped himself right down next to me with the same queasy feeling building inside of him as me.

"Sakura," He whispered dropping the formalities all together. "Is this for real? Is this forever?"

I frowned at his second question. "Yes Naruto-kun, this is for real, but I don't know if it is forever."

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched together as his eyes bore into me. I sighed for I knew I'd have to explain what I had implied. "Naruto," I mimicked Naruto's attitude. "I'm afraid that my emotions would only get in the way of a mission. I have to find some way to make my emotionless state temporary. That way, everyone is happy, right?"

I frowned as Naruto tried his best to smile at my encouraging words. "That sounds great…but, what if you can't make it temporary?"

I wasn't positive on how to answer my friend's question. I hadn't thought about it myself. What if I couldn't change back? "Naruto, I don't know."

An awkward silence was drawn between us as we sat on Naruto's ratty sofa. We both stared at our feet, silently allowing the ever constant truth to sink in.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered as if someone else were listening. "No matter what happens, I will still love you the same." I grinned. Those words meant more to me than anything Sasuke had ever said. "Oh! By the way Sakura-chan! Since you have your emotions back and all, you owe me some ramen for bringing to you."

I laughed at the goofy smile that had made its way across Naruto's matured face. I guess I owed him that much… "Fine. I'll meet you at Ichiraku's at seven then. For now, I have to report to the Hokage."

A pair of lips found its way to my forehead. I had never noticed how tall Naruto had become over the years. He was at least six foot. I giggled at my random thoughts as Naruto retreated from me. "Goodbye, Sakura-chan."

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I partly told the truth I guess…I mean, I was on my way to see the Hokage, I just needed to stop by a few people's house to talk. Naruto wouldn't know the difference, and what could a little white lie do?

My first stop would be Ino's. No matter how much we fought as children, we had been friends until a certain mission…

_Flashback_

_"Ino-san, Chouji-san, I need you to pay attention," I whispered strictly. "These people will show no mercy. This may only be another A-class mission to you, but you should treat as if you were on your fist S-class. This is why you both have never passed the ANBU exams. It takes more than just strength to succeed."_

_Both Ino and Chouji shrugged at my harsh words. They knew it was true. Our mission was to invade a small uprising near Sunagakure. Though the village was our ally, people still protested. Not many, but that was still enough to destroy an important meeting. Especially when there were shinobi involved._

_This group was one of the larger of them all and Tsunade-sama had specifically appointed us to this sector. I already had a plan. _

_Kazekage Gaara had told us quite clearly to return them alive for interrogation and sentencing. I did not completely favor this, but my word was worth nothing in such matters. We were also informed that minimum killings would be tolerated to gain authority and torture was fine. _

_My plan was to discover the leader of this uprising, have Ino apply her skills in mind suggestion to that person, and lead them into an area covered with gases to knock them unconscious. Then, to transport all of the traitors to the capital by a well-hidden wagon._

_All had gone as previously mapped, until Ino did not catch our signal and she did not release her jutsu. Her mind was lost in the body of the leader._

_I knew this, but Chouji did not. I convinced him otherwise and by the time we had loaded the bodies into the wagon, there was absolutely no room for Ino. We left her there to wake when she released the jutsu on the head of the uproar. _

_Flashback End_

She has hated me ever since. I needed my best friend back. I had to apologize. I just had to. I wouldn't be able to feel complete if I didn't have Ino's trust.

I found myself standing in front of the Yamanaka residence with my fingers twiddling behind my back.

_'What do I do if she slams the door on my face? What do I do if she doesn't even answer the door? What do I do what do I do?'_

'**SAKURA-CHAN! Calm the fuck down. Obviously everyone in this village knows you went through a point and time when you didn't care. I'm sure that if Ino sees you in front of her door ready to talk, she'll know something is up.'**

_'But! Oh, hey you're right. I'm so glad to have you back Saku-chan.' _I smiled to myself at this. I really did miss my inner self while she was gone.

'**Me too Sakura…NOW WOULD YOU JUST KNOCK ON THE DAMN DOOR?!!!' **

My smile quickly turned into a frown as I cautiously brought my hand to knock on the door. By the time I was about to knock for a second time, a jumpy blonde about my age answered the door…Oh shit, here it comes.

"Who is it-Sakura? What the hell do you want? Why are you even here? Get lost." Ino began to slam the door in face exactly as I had expected, but before it closed, my ANBU reflexes kicked in and I held the door wide open with my hand.

Ino stared at me with her jaw hanging and her eyes angry. "Why you little whore. You think you can just barge into my house after all you put me thro-"

I didn't let Ino finish her sentence. I had to show her I was sorry in some way that didn't include words, or else I'd never get a chance to talk. It wasn't anything new. She'd always been 'Ms. Center-of-Attention' when we were friends. I ran into Ino's arms. She had been throwing them around so insanely that it was easy to find an opening.

She had become speechless. I felt so overjoyed when she put her arms around me and _gently _said, "What's up Sakura?"

I pulled away and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm back Ino! I'm back! My emotions are back!" I stated practically dancing on her front porch.

Ino threw another insane look at me. Then she smiled a smile I hadn't seen from her in ages. "Oh darn. And I was hoping you'd stay that way," she joked sarcastically causing me to grin as well.

"Friends?" She asked me. There was only one was I knew how to answer that.

"Friends."

………………………………...

Happiness. That's all I could feel as I skipped my way to the Hokage building. I couldn't wait to see Tsunade's face! She had been trying to get me back to normal for like ever and Naruto writes one little note and I'm back! This was gonna be a classic.

I stopped in front of Tsunade's door and knocked once. A drunken sound came from under the cracks. I could only guess that that sound had said to come in.

As I stepped in, Tsunade perked up as fast a wasted person can and said in her most professional voice, "Ah. Sakura-san, how was the mission?"

So she was going to play my game hm? Well it just so happens that I'm an expert at that. "Fine Tsunade-sama," I said reverting back into my emotionless voice.

"Very well. Now what do you need?" She asked quietly. I could hear the disappointment laced throughout her words.

"Well, I could use a hug," I stated in all seriousness.

Tsunade looked up from her papers she was pretending to work on and gave me a look that quite reminded me of this face-O.o. I began to laugh hysterically, and the harder I laughed the more contorted Tsunade's face became.

"I'm sorry," I giggled in between breaths. "Your face just looked so funny!"

Tsunade's face still didn't change. "Um, Sakura-san, what happened?"

"Sakura-_chan_ please! No _san_. There is no need to be formal among friends!"

"Seriously Sakura-_chan,_ what happened?"

I laughed again. "Naruto happened. You know he has that hidden power to make people change! Well, he did it again!"

Tsunade's lips curved in a gentle upwards pattern with her eyes closed. "Yes. He does tend to do that…But, there is a problem. I have a mission for you."

I grimaced. I hadn't figured out a way to keep my emotions in control yet! I needed more time! Time that I didn't have as I quickly found out.

"I know you just arrived home and just discovered your long lost emotions, but this is of most importance…" Tsunade let the suspense grow for a minute. "Orochimaru is still alive. Your mission is to find and kill him. We have received information of him taking Yakushi Kabuto's body. Your team will be Hatake Kakashi, Uzamaki Naruto, and Sai. You are the captain and Uzamaki Naruto will be the co-captain."

"Um. Ok. One question. When the hell did Naruto become an ANBU?!!!"

Tsunade chuckled a bit. "That's right. You haven't been on a mission with him for some time now. He's very high-ranking now. He became an ANBU two months ago."

I glared at my past sensei and grumbled something about thanks for telling me and what a drunk she is, but thank whoever that she was to drunk to hear.

………………………………...

Damn was I tired. It was like two in the morning and I ended up going to bed at around eleven o'clock last night trying to find Kakashi to tell him about our newest mission. Sai and Naruto were simple to find only because Naruto ended up inviting Sai to our little date at Ichiraku's.

ended up finding Kakashi in the middle of some chick giving him a lap dance. What a dirty old man…Anyways, I informed him that he needed to sleep as much as possible because our mission was tomorrow at five a.m. Of course he didn't hear me or something and probably ended up getting home at one. That stupid-ass pervert. I'll kill him one day.

………………………………...

I walked to the Konoha gates with a stoic look on my face. I had had my fun. Now it was time to be serious.

I was late and I knew it. I had meant to be. Those boys needed some time to chat since they hardly got to see each other anymore. After we all graduated from chunin, team seven had been split apart. Each of us had our own missions constantly. Our teams were almost always different and we almost never associated with each other. This mission would be a reprieve…for them.

Once the boys saw me approaching, Naruto ran to me scooped me up in his arms. "Hey Sakura-chan! Won't this be great? Us all on a mission together again?"

"Naruto-san, you will call me by the proper formalities. This is a mission…"

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**Oh dang. She's back! Run away!!!!!! So anyways, I tried to make this chapter a bit longer just because I hadn't updated in ages. Mainly because of summer school. I thought it would give me more time to write, but I didn't have time to. Therefore, all the writing was done at home. **

**I have to apologize for an mistakes at all since I usually write this down before I type it, but yeah. Don't kill me. Add my myspace thing. You know the drill. It's on my profile. Thanks for the recent adds!**

**In other news: HOLY CRAP!!! I saw the fucking leader of fucking Akatsuki!!!! For those of you who thought the leader was the fourth Hokage you were way off. This guy is like pierced up the wazoo. He has like six nose piercing, snake bites, and about a trillion ear piercing. (Everywhere but the eyebrow hm?) It was so cool to finally see him. Oh, and by the way he is a missing nin form Mist.**

**So my dad is being a bitch and I have to go…After the anonymous reviews answering thingy…**

**CHA!: Was that a good Ew or a bad Ew?**

**Pinkcrayon: Yikes, sorry bout that. No more butterfly/spider fun facts anymore! Lol. Thanks for the review.**

**Unnamed: Thanks for the review!**

**-SachiruNatsu**

**Fun fact: The tallest building in the world was just recently constructed in Mexico. It is 140 stories high. Anyone wanna jump with me?**


	5. From the Strength Within

**I love flash drives. Don't you? I mean you can type everything up on the computer, save it on there, and then bring it back whenever you need it. :D I'm sure you guys are happy for the update and I made it a bit longer because of the wait. I hope you enjoy and please review and I promise to answer every single one because I am so bored. :D. Yeah for commercial arts! Lol. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto, that guy at the Chinese restaurant does. (Get it? Narutofishcakes) **

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**From the Strength Within**

**Haruno Sakura**

"Sa-Sakura-san? What the hell happened?" Sai stuttered.

I sighed inwardly and answered his surprised babbling. "Your 'Sakura-chan' isn't here right now. Do not fret though. This is only temporary."

I watched as all three boys relaxed visibly. One face caught me off guard though. Naruto: his face was stern and steady, set in a never-ending grimace. He wasn't angry. I had warned him of this and he was determined to not be affected.

"What is our mission, Sakura-san?" He asked tonelessly.

"Orochimaru is still alive and living inside of Yukushi Kabuto. Our mission is to destroy all traces of the Sannin's life…that is including Kabuto-san."

Naruto snapped out of his stage and immediately transformed into his argumentative self. "But Kabuto saved us at the chunin exams! He doesn't deserve to die just because some dumb- ass snake inhabits his body!"

I was strict with Naruto. He didn't need to hear what I was going to say; he already knew it was coming. "Naruto-san, your impudence will not affect the outcome of this mission. If needed, I will remove you."

He tilted his head towards the ground. "Of course, Sakura-san."

I nodded once and turned towards the gates. This mission was to be more of a waste than the last.

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**Hatake Kakashi**

I found myself staring at her back again. I promised myself that this time, I would keep our Sakura-chan here, but she had…changed so suddenly that I couldn't have even attempted to put my plan into action and here I was regretting it all over again.

She had gotten faster; stronger somehow. Her chakra was completely concealed, but you could tell by the way she held her body…the power was weighing her down. Sakura's back was straight, perfectly straight, like she was lifting something so heavy that her spine had locked in place. Her footsteps were soft and weary as if she could break her ankle at any time. But yet, she resisted the urge to fail.

I had only heard of this from my ANBU training, that there was such a person that could withstand any amount of chakra pressure being pushed on them. It was a well-known shinobi myth that such a person existed, but no one ever believed it since it could not be proved.

Chakra is not light. It begins to affect our bodies harshly after too much use. Any time we release the tiniest amount, it bruises our muscle.

According to the legend, people who have a higher chakra mass than their body do not grow anymore and are normally very short. Some of these mythical people cannot hold up the weight and begin to hunch, but others can gain complete control. They are called Kyoujaku, meaning strength.

The legend of Kyoujaku states that one is to appear every one thousand years from the point they were formed. It would be easier to track those one thousand years if only we knew what date to start from.

Now when people start to tell the myth, it sounds as if there was more than one Kyoujaku to begin with. They supposedly created an unknown village somewhere that only they could enter.

No one really knows why the Kyoujaku decided to go into hiding, but it is known that some people abhorred those who could withstand any amount of power. It scarred them. Why wouldn't it though? Too many could take over the world if they wanted. Who knows? Maybe that was why, or maybe there was something else.

The legend also says that these Kyoujaku had inner selves that symbolized their conscience and emotions. If one could learn to master these so called beings, then there was no limit to their power. The legend also seems to be warning Kyoujaku that if their inner selves are the ones who gain control, then the chakra will eventually cause them to combust.

I was scared for Sakura. What if she hasn't mastered her inner self? I mean, if she were a Kyoujaku, she could suddenly detonate at any time. On the other hand, if she had won the battle of her conscience, she could possibly resist and continue to live. Or maybe, I was just being too superstitious.

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**Haruno Sakura**

I raised an eyebrow to Kakashi's thoughts. He was the only one who shared the same theory as me.

My ANBU training had been close to the same as his. In Konoha, pretty much everything taught one hundred years ago was taught now. The Legend of Kyoujaku was one of the most insignificant subjects we studied though. Myths and legends were only presented in our training for 'just in case' situations.

I had never asked my inner self if I was a Kyoujaku, but I had never believed she'd tell me. Truthfully, I didn't care. I just wanted to know if Itachi was meant to be a Kyoujaku, but his inner self had won the battle.

A Kyoujaku had to conquer themselves and their conscience to survive. If the inner self won, you would remain emotionless for all the rest of your life. If you won, you can control your emotionless states and become powerful for all eternity. I don't know what it was like for other people of my kind, but my inner self and I got along well. We did have our fights, but she was like a best friend that was always around. Maybe…just maybe, I got lucky.

**Short and sweet I know, but I had to hurry. This class is almost over. :D. Hope you liked, please review and I will reply. **

**-SachiruNatsu**

**Fun Fact: Cows have six stomachs. O.o.**


	6. The Horror From the Inside

Ok, to start things off, I'm sorry for the lateness. School has been hell and my father has been the one controlling that fiery place, so yeah. Sorryz. Um. Yeah, so I hope you enjoy and I would appreciate some review pretty please. :. Reviews always help with my writer's block. :P. So do enjoy this oh-so-fun chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Nope, not owning Naruto yet. Maybe for my birthday…Hm. Good idea.

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**Uzumaki Naruto**

After five exhausting hours of playing catch up to Sakura, we were finally allowed to rest. Most ANBU captains allow a one nights rest after that sort of work, but this was Haruno Sakura: thirty minutes should be fine. This time was different though. It was not like Sakura to be late. Especially by twenty minutes.

We had all drawn sticks to see who would look for her and of course, Kakashi just had to win, but I insisted that I should go because he wasn't the best with words and right now Sakura-chan needed a friend who knew what he was talking about.

After at least ten minutes of arguing, I had managed to convince Kakashi to allow me to speak to her and bring her back. Sakura needed me now, even in her emotionless state. I had learned in the past that the things Sakura would usually keep from me, she would tell me when she didn't care about the consequences. That was one quality I wish she would have kept after the change of mind.

Women, I will never understand them. They confused the hell out of me. If something was wrong with them, they would say they are just fine and go cry themselves to sleep when you aren't watching. I don't get it! Why not tell others how you feel? What is so embarrassing about that?

I paused in my tracks to see Sakura…meditating over a small pond. She was sitting in the center of the little lake with a large amount of green light flowing from beneath her, but I should have known that she would be just as alert as always.

Sakura's eyes snapped open and looked at me blankly. "What is it Naruto-san?"

I stared back at her. Something had happened. Her eyes had been a completely different color. They went from dark emerald to crystal blue. It was the most brilliant color I had every seen, but her eyes remained empty.

"Sakura-san, your eyes…they-"

"They change form time to time. Usually only when I am releasing a large amount of chakra."

I was speechless for a moment. I had never noticed that her eyes changed to different colors. This didn't make any sense either. How come other people's eyes never changed? I mean yeah mine do, but I have a fucking demon inside me. Tsunade-baachan and Ero-sennin are strong and I have never seen their eyes turn weird colors.

"Naruto-san, Tsunade-sama's eyes do not change because she does not use enough chakra to allow it to happen. If you were paying attention when she used her

Rebirth jutsu, you would have noticed the faint purple in her eyes."

"Well, your eyes were completely blue!"

"Then what do you think that means?"

I pieced together what Sakura was saying quickly. "You're releasing more chakra? What the hell were you doing?"

Sakura sighed and stood up on the water with perfect control and walked towards me. She continued onto the shore as if there were no change in consistency and stopped directly in front of me.

"I know where Kabuto-san is."

"Oh, you used that jutsu then? But how come I've never seen your eyes do that before?"

"I was searching a larger area this time."

"How far?"

"Over a thirty mile radius."

I think my eyes may have popped out of my head. She had enough chakra for a thirty fucking mile radius!? Holy hell! I mean thirty miles is one thing, (that's still pretty amazing) but a thirty-mile radius. That is just insane. I had never heard of such a thing.

"Why are you here Naruto-san?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and found myself answering her unwittingly. "I was sent to find you, but I also wanted to know more about you switching back to…yourself, I guess."

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment. "It's complicated. My inner self and I made an agreement. Nobody likes to be locked up Naruto-san. You Kyuubi is the perfect example.

"Saku-san agreed to stay quiet instead of fighting to get out. We agreed on keeping my emotions dormant only during missions. Otherwise, she can come and go freely with my feelings."

"Oh," I grumbled to myself. "That makes loads of sense."

I didn't want Sakura to stay like this. She wasn't a human being when she was in this state. She was different. That is the only word I can use to describe it nicely. She wasn't a monster though; she was just more focused and less…alive.

An awkward silence crossed between us that made shivers crawl up my spine. Sakura's eyes were open, but she wasn't speaking. I took this time to look into her dead eyes and see if I could learn anything I didn't already know.

As I was staring, I noticed her eyes transform into that unusual crystal blue color. I figured she was looking to see how much Orochimaru had moved since the last time she checked, so I paid little attention to her heavy breathing.

I couldn't see any emotion or feeling on her blank face. Her eyes were the same as they always were and her expression hadn't changed once over the whole course of this mission. This wasn't my Sakura-chan and it never would be.

"Naruto-san, let's go."

"Huh?" Was my intelligent reply.

"I now know the exact location of Kabuto-san. We need to leave now."

I finally understood what she was saying when she had disappeared into the forest ahead of me, but I stayed in my place. I had seen something in her eyes before they changed back to normal. I couldn't place it, but something was definitely there. It didn't look like any emotion I'd ever seen before. Still, it was somewhat familiar.

When a twig snapped near me, I regained my composure and quickly took off in the same direction as Sakura.

Haruno Sakura 

Naruto had taken his sweet time in catching up. I shouldn't have left him there. A charka presence that was quite familiar to me had appeared. I didn't panic though. Naruto was close now, but the signature was gaining on him.

I would have thought that the person following Naruto would have stopped once he'd gotten to team members, but I was wrong. I should have known to expect the unexpected with this person anyways.

My body flickered from visible to invisible for a moment. Then before most could notice it, I was in front of Naruto starring face to face with a cloaked Akatsuki member.

"Uchiha-san," I said in a warning tone.

"Why hello Haruno-san. I was not expecting to see you here. Your charka was hidden so well."

I looked deeper into Itachi's eyes. I had not sensed him once, even when I conducted my second charka search for Orochimaru.

"Interesting of you to say. You see, I could not feel your presence until you began following Naruto-san."

Itachi smirked at me. "Of course you would be the only one to sense me."

I was silent for a moment. He was teasing me. "Where were you hiding? I know you were not here."

His smirk grew larger. "You are a very observant woman Haruno-san. I knew that if I stayed in this dimension that you would find me."

"Oh, now I see. So you are here for Naruto-san?" I asked rhetorically. I already knew the answer and I was pretty sure he knew that too.

"Well I'm sorry to say Uchiha-san, you cannot have him; unless you wish to go through me and two other ANBU members. You should know you can't win that battle. There is strength in numbers."

Itachi's smirk disappeared from his face. "Very well then. Another time Haruno-san." And then he faded away in a gust of wind, but he stayed in this dimension…I made sure of it. I would not hesitate to kill him if he came back.

I turned towards my teammates to see them sweating profusely and of course Naruto was the first to speak up. "Now that was intense!"

Kakashi and Sai both rolled their eyes at his immaturity. They glanced at me before giving me the report of what they found during their break, but I already knew they hadn't done anything.

"Um, well Sakura-san. We were exhausted after the long period of time you made us run and…"

"There is no need for excuses Sai-san. You need to do what I told you to do and finish looking for traces of Orochimaru."

"But Sakura-chan-"

"San. Use the proper formalities or you will lose my respect."

"Anou…of course Sakura-san. It was an accident, I'm sorry. But my point was, don't you already know where Orochimaru is?"

The other boys stared at me with wide eyes, especially Sai. He glared at me with an unusual glint in his black irises. Kakashi stood next time him with his jaw clenched tightly shut and his fingernails digging into the skin of his palm.

"That is correct Naruto-san, but they need to learn their lesson."

"Sakura-san," Kakashi remarked sharply. "We understand what we did was wrong, but this mission comes before our punishment."

"Very well said Kakashi-san, and I completely agree."

All of the boy's faces became twisted and their eyes glimmered with confusion.

"Therefore, you two men have been removed from this mission. If you have time to rest and not do what your are told, then you are worthless to me. Head back to Konoha and report to Tsunade-sama, and be aware, if you do not tell the truth, I will.

"Naruto-san will stay with me. Now go, and I do not want any more excuses. Leave now."

The two froze in place from shock. They could not understand why I would remove them from this assignment when they believed that a four-man cell was needed. They were slow to remember that even The Uchiha Itachi was frightened by my power; I could defeat Orochimaru without breaking a single sweat.

I saw the temptation to fight for their position, but I also saw their doubt in defeating me in an argument. The boys turned and took off without another word.

"Sakura-san…that was kind of harsh. Don't you think?" Naruto questioned.

"You must be harsh to succeed."

"Yeah, but still, that was just horrible."

I did not bother to answer him this time. His criticism was becoming bothersome. Instead I simply walked away from him and began my trek to hunt down Orochimaru.

Naruto dragged behind me continuing to mope about his friend's situation. I knew this was a threat to the mission, but it was too much of a risk for me to attempt this mission alone. Plus, Kakashi and Sai had already departed, it would be unsafe and irresponsible for me to allow the Kyuubi to walk around with Uchiha Itachi lurking in the forest with a new technique hidden up his sleeve, so I was forced to allow Naruto's sulking to go on.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

I continued my steady pace with Naruto close enough to me that I could protect him easily if anyone were to attack.

Naruto chuckled to himself and began chatting with me as if he were on the brink of hysteria. "Isn't it funny Sakura-san? How the person we always ended up protecting is now the one saving us? That's fate for you I guess."

"I guess it is Naruto-san."

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**Fun and all done. I hope you liked it. Took me some time to get it up and posted. Oh well. Um yeah. Review. Pretty please. And add my writing site if ya want.**

**You know the myspace url, so just add 13thsquad to the end. I check it like once a week and if you wanna talk to me or something random, just message me. :.**

**---SachiruNatsu**


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